Secrecy about road’s condition? Not at first (7)

I believe the answer is:

stealth

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'secrecy' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'about road's condition? not at first' is the wordplay.
'about road' becomes 'st' (I am not sure about the 'about' bit.).
'condition?' becomes 'health' (health is a kind of condition).
'not at first' means to remove the first letter.
'health' with its initial letter removed is 'ealth'.
'st'+'ealth'='STEALTH'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stealth that I've seen before include "quality needed by cat burglars" , "Cats display this" , "Slyness" , "Secretiveness, furtiveness" , "By which taxes go up" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.

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